


The pursuit of power

by Metabird (wheatear)



Series: Essays on power [2]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Merlin (TV), Stardust (2007)
Genre: Ambition, Destiny, Divine Right of Kings, Gen, Kings & Queens, Meta, Might is Right, Nonfiction, Spoilers, Tropes, Villains, power
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:29:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23235457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheatear/pseuds/Metabird
Summary: When is it acceptable for characters to pursue power, and why? A meta essay on the kinds of characters for whom seeking power is portrayed as a positive trait.
Series: Essays on power [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653358
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	The pursuit of power

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this meta back in 2013, so some of the ideas here are developed better in later posts in this series but the same basic themes are there. Cross-posted for the March Meta Matters Challenge.

Power is depicted in so many contradictory ways. On the one hand, the villain of the piece is almost certainly power-hungry and we are told that this is a Bad Thing. On the other hand, if your hero finds himself becoming king or given some other form of power in return for his heroics, this is of course Good and Just.  
  
What's the difference? It is bad to pursue power. It is good to gain power as a reward for some other accomplishment. So, this immediately suggests the notion of being Worthy of power. Heroes are worthy. Villains greedily pursue power even though they don't deserve it.  
  
Alternatively, characters can be depicted as deserving of power simply by virtue of being who they are. Because they were chosen. Because their father was the king before them. Because they carry royal blood and obviously this means that they not only deserve power, but they would make great rulers, restore the kingdom to its former glory etc etc.  
  
Look at _Stardust_. Tristran Thorn is a humble shop assistant, but once he's finished with his adventure it turns out that he's the heir to the throne of Stormhold. Because that makes it all okay. It doesn't matter that he probably doesn't have the first clue about ruling a kingdom: he has royal blood and therefore he is entitled to the power he gains.  
  
The squabbling brothers of the movie, however, are Bad because they actively pursue power, even though they are also sons of the king.  
  
And woe betide the character who seeks power if they have no claim to the throne. The White Witch plunged Narnia into an eternal winter, but one gets the impression that Aslan wouldn't have been happy even if she had been a benevolent ruler, because he didn't put her on the throne. Only when the "rightful" rulers are restored can Narnia return to its former glory.  
  
Slytherin is a house defined by the pursuit of power. (They have "great ambition".) Of course they're the bad guys. I don't personally see why Voldemort's pursuit of immortality was a bad thing in itself, although obviously all the other stuff he did was not so great. But it's part of what makes him a villain.  
  
There's a reason for all this. If you pursue power, if you have to work for it, inevitably you're going to step on a few toes. The pursuit of power is a competition, and in a competition there are losers. Moreover, the person who wins that game invariably must have a certain degree of ruthlessness - fairness wins no points here. In fact, being fair and just only works if another authority figure recognizes that fairness and appoints you leader, which is why so many heroes do their thing and are then _given_ power by someone else. They wouldn't seize it for themselves.  
  
So we're wary about those who pursue power. Those people might step on us on their way to the top. Better to be given power as a just reward. Or, even better, claim that inheritance implies worth. After all, those who pursue power are quite often people who _don't have it_, and we wouldn't want to shake up the status quo, would we?  
  
So, for what kind of character is the pursuit of power acceptable? Here's an example: Prince/King Arthur from the TV series _Merlin_. Or any King Arthur story, probably, but the TV show works just fine. There's a point in the series where Morgana seizes the throne and Arthur fights to take it back. This is of course Right and Just.  
  
The trick here is that we don't even see this as a pursuit of power. We see it as the character fighting to get back what's already his. Something that was taken from him. The injustice, then, is that he _doesn't_ have power. Arthur is entitled to his power; therefore anyone who takes it from him is in the wrong, and any effort he makes to keep or regain it is right.  
  
Of course we also get hit over the head by the fact that Arthur is Destined for Greatness, so any obstacle to his rule is not only an affront to Arthur, but also bad news for the entire kingdom. The divine right of kings is still a theme that resonates with us, and one that isn't often questioned.  
  
I'm sure there are other more mundane examples of ambition that are portrayed as acceptable, most likely because of the character's background. In general, the pursuit of power is acceptable either when we see it as something that the character _should_ have or is _expected_ to have, or we don't recognize it as such at all.


End file.
